Sports
■ Thursday, April 7, 1994
The Battalion
Page 7
open::-
A Iasi i:
Man, Macmanus/ The Battalion
Texas A&M Head Baseball Coach Mark Johnson (left) walks on to
Olsen Field with Trey Moore during the first game of the season
against the University of Texas-Pan American on Feb. 11.
Father
Boys of Summer
A&M head coach
leads team in times
of success, trouble
By Drew Diener
The Battalion
aseball practice is over at Olsen Field. It’s
time roll out the tarp and cover the dia-
*mond.
Leading the charge of players and coaches
working to complete this daily ritual is Flead
Coach Mark Johnson.
Instead of retreating to his office as soon as
practice is over, Johnson takes the extra five or
so minutes to make sure the field is returned to
the way it was at the beginning of the day.
After the last stake is driven into the ground,
securing the tarp from the threat of strong
winds, Johnson heads into the dugout and
down the corridor that leads into the locker
room.
From the locker room, he opens a door and
enters the baseball lounge. At the opposite end
of the lounge, behind another closed door, is
Johnson’s office.
As he reaches the door, Johnson bends down -
to pick up his mail.
“Monday’s usually a big mail day,” Johnson
sighs.
Lately the mail has not been full of accolades
and letters of encouragement. The Aggies are
22-16 overall and 2-7 in the Southwest confer
ence, far off the pace of last year’s ballclub that
went 53-11, earning a berth as the top seed in
the College World Series.
“When the fans start yelling at you and you
get nasty letters, your ego bursts,” Johnson
said. “We’re not used to losing and I’m not
used to people yelling at me.”
In his nine previous seasons as the head
coach at A&M, Johnson compiled a record of
419-154-1, including three SWC regular sea
son championships, two SWC tournament
championships and seven trips to the NCAA re-
gionals.
Four times the Aggies, were regional finalists
before finally breaking through and advancing
to the College World Series last year.
Johnson has held his head up this season' de
spite the trying times. Better yet, he has done
his best to keep his players’ heads up as well.
“He’s always staying positive,” senior pitcher
Matt Sherwood said. “It’s easy to stay with us
when we’re doing good but when we’re strug
gling and having some tough times, he’s right
there with us.”
Even if the struggle does not involve base
ball, Johnson is always there to lend encourage
ment and support to his players, as Sherwood
can attest.
“Last year when my uncle was killed I was
able to go to him,” Sherwood said. “He was
there to console me and be that father figure
for me.”
Although Johnson does not like the label of
father-figure, he agrees that being there for his
players is something that he feels obligated to
do.
“I’m with them in their ups and downs,”
Johnson said. “It’s not like your normal profes
sor who sees them in the classroom and then
leaves.
“You have a lot of emotional highs and lows
(being on the baseball team) where a guy is re
ally susceptible to problems.”
Johnson knows about emotional highs and
lows. Last season, on the day that his number
one ranked team was scheduled to host arch
rival Texas, Johnson’s father passed away.
“I got the call about 6:30 that morning,”
Johnson said. “My mother did not want me to
See Johnson/ Page 8
A&M prepares
for first open
‘94 scrimmage
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
Almost two full weeks into spring
practice, the Texas A&M football team wifi
strut its stuff in the public for the first
time in 1994 on Saturday morning at 10
at Kyle Field in the Maroon and White
Game.
Head Football Coach R.C. Slocum said
more than 200 former Aggie players are
expected to attend the game and its ac
companying festivities.
Slocum also said that fans attending
Saturday’s affair will see a good game, but
not the full picture for next fall's team.
“We are a little thin right now because
we have 2 5 freshmen coming in in the
fall,” Slocum said. “We’ll divide the team
as evenly as possible, and the game should
be a lot of fun for everyone.”
One not-so-new player who made
waves in practice Wednesday, and who
will be seeing playing time in Saturday’s
game is wide receiver Chris Sanders.
Sanders, a 6-foot-4~inch junior from
Austin, made several good catches includ
ing one spectacular grab where he collid
ed with a defensive back while the ball
deflected straight up in the air between
the two players.
Sanders then spun around in an at
tempt to maintain his balance, and ended
up catching the ball on its way back
down.
Saturday will also introduce the 12th
Man to A&M’s mostly new coaching staff,
including new offensive coordinator Steve
Ensminger from Georgia University and
new defensive coordinator Tommy Tu-
berville from the University of Miami.
Ensminger said he feels the offensive
unit is on par with its performance at this
point of the practice session.
“I think the offense has picked up on
the system well, they’ve adjusted and
learned,” Ensminger said. “They’ve ad
justed and learned when we’ve thrown
new stuff at them.
“I’m especially pleased with the effort,
they’re all giving great effort.”
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APRIL 9, 1994
"Aggies helping others"
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What is The Big Event?
For the past eleven years, Texas A&M students
have volunteered their time and effort for the better
ment of the community in which they live. On April
9, 1994 several thousand Aggie students will provide
labor to the residents of Bryan and College Station,
performing tasks from painting to pulling weeds. The
Big Event gives Aggies the opportunity to show appre
ciation for all the support the Bryan and College
Station communities have offered Texas A&M Uni
versity. Essentially, The Big Event is Aggies helping
others.